Super You

Release Your Inner Superhero

By: Emily Gordon

Narrated by: Emily Gordon

Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

Superheroes don't start from glorious beginnings. Their origins are almost always marked by traumatic events that leave them helpless and scared. Batman witnessed his parents' murder. Superman was sent away from his dying planet with no one to guide him as he grew up. Orphaned Catwoman was forced to steal food to survive on the streets of Gotham.

What makes these superheroes super is their determination to not be defined by helplessness. They embrace their origins, their flaws, and their mistakes and strive every day to become the best versions of themselves - for the benefit of themselves and others.

Super You is a fun, friendly, and unabashedly geeky guide to becoming the superhero of your own extraordinary life. Author Emily Gordon examines comic book tropes to find lessons that anyone can apply toward overcoming tragic events and adversity in their own lives. With activities in every chapter to help identify each person's superpowers, special tools, personal kryptonite - and weapons against it - Super You is the perfect sidekick for every growing hero, empowering everyday people to transform into the most kick-ass versions of themselves.

©2015 Original Material © 2015 by Emily V. Gordon, c/o Wendy Sherman Associates, Inc. (P)2015 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

A wonderful book filled with empathy and humanity.

This book is an incredibly powerful read. Emily Gordon walks a fine line of personalizing the stories so they resonate, but always keeping the focus on the reader's process and the reader's reflection on the material. There's a healthy amount of individuality to her writing and absolutely no ego.

Self-Help books can be tough to read. They can be cloying or patronizing. The worst ones are both. What comes through from "Super You" is empathy and understanding. Emily Gordon's caring for her fellow humans is on every page. Her compassion is on every page. Her genuine wish for a world of wonderful and healthy people is on every page. Hearing the book in her voice just accentuates these things. Her main goal is to get her readers to live their lives with intention, to become the best versions of themselves through self-actualization, and claiming power over their lives, their experiences, and their view of themselves and the world they navigate. "Super You" was written with staggering intention. The plans and goals she lays out in "Super You" are attainable and able to be mastered, if you're willing to put in the work. The book is a wonderful tool, and a testament to the beauty of Emily Gordon's humanity.

Find this book. It meant the world to me, and I believe it will mean the same to you.

Great but has some hints of unexamined privilege

This is one of the rare nonfiction works that does not suffer for being read by the author. The audiobook performance is engaging (a warning to those easily offended or listening around those for whom profanity is a problem - this book contains quite a bit of swearing including at least one section that has f-bombs every few words). I looked for but cannot find a workbook of the "assignments" given in this. Providing those as a download with the audiobook would really help. I deducted half a star overall for that reason and the other half star because, as someone who has spent much of my life in the poverty to barely middle class range of the economic scale, some of what she says is clearly shaded by her family of origin not having significant economic hardships (she mentions getting married on the cheap & using the money her parents gave her for the wedding to pay for grad school instead - that is not a backstory the majority of her target demographic can relate to, and I think the book would have benefitted from her taking ownership of that with explicit acknowledgement of the degrees of freedom to take risks that it gave her that most listeners/readers do not have).

I am recommending this book around to everyone I know is working on being a better version of themselves (including my teenage son & his girlfriend). Also note that the author predominantly uses female pronouns instead of gender-neutral they/them even when it would be just as grammatically correct. I interpret this as a push back against the historical/mainstream use of male pronouns for the default, and my teenage son was fine with it when explained in that manner. I like the quote from the beginning, something along the lines of "strong enough for a woman, but made for everybody" (an intentional referenc to an old deodorant commercial).

This, to me, is a nerdier and a bit less self-examining work that belongs on shelves next to the works of Brene Brown and Martin Seligmen. I have faith that the author has the potential of future works as good as the more recent works of both of them (and since both of those authors are at least a few years older, she seems well on track to me). I will be watching for future works and I am grateful to Audible for spotlighting this work in a recent 3-for-2-credits sale, which is how it came to my awareness. It is a good value even at regular price. I will be relistening probably multiple times.

An interesting take on self-help

I really enjoyed the super you concept. Explaining self-exploration and self-care through super hero concepts was really interesting and useful.

Good Advice Especially If You're a Girl

Where does Super You rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

As far as self help books go I quickly realized that adult males were not Emily Gordon's target audience. I did gain some good takeaways from this book. There is a lot of practical advice to be found.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I like how she suggests to turn YOU into a superhero. There is you and a super you. There are many versions of you.

What about Emily Gordon’s performance did you like?

Book is definitely targeted to a younger female audience. Should of guessed with the Super Hero theme.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Lots of feminist undertones. Also, there are lots and lots of assumptions made about the differences between men and women. For example, "Men are taught everything they do is golden." This does not ring true in my experience. This is just one example, but there were many more. Felt many of the generalizations reflected more on the author's insecurities than actual truth.

Any additional comments?

Predicted the Super Hero tie in might be gimmicky, but it genuinely made the book more interesting.

Great dose of introspection, in a cape.

Love this book! Loved the content, context, delivery -- every thing.

Unlike many other self help books, this one didn't make me feel ashamed for being who I am -- an overly emotional feminine woman who works her but off instead of mingling to get ahead. Given that I go through at least one self help book a quarter, I am well aware that I have many things to work on and thanks to reading those other books I've learned different ways of coping. Usually, after finishing these types of books, I feel defeated and exhausted. As a result, I usually don't read them a second time.

Unlike the type of book I just described, this book will not make you feel ashamed for being who you are. Emily Gordon has written this book to help us look within, work within and eventually grow into our super-you. It will definitely be a reread, times infinity, as I'm certain I'll get something more each time.

Highly recommend!

Loved it.

I loved her down to earth style. It was like having a therapist as a friend. Good shit in this book!

Light-hearted and helpful

I wasn't even in the mood for a "self-help" book, I just wanted to learn more about the author and her story,,, instead however, I learned quite a bit about myself and had (am having?!) fun doing it. I truly enjoyed listening, so much in fact, that I have listened to it twice and just ordered the paperback to read the print! Thank you so much for a thoughtful, new and relatable way to think about "self-help"...

Fun self-help

I truly enjoyed this book . The advice was insightful and applicable to almost any life situation. Definitely worth reading and applying into your life

Clever Writing

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Miss Gordon managed to keep my attention with her jokes and metaphors. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes superheroes and would enjoy connecting that concept to their personal lives.

like a wise big sister's advice

This is the sort of book I would buy for a young woman (high school through college, or perhaps even a little older). That said, although I am a bit beyond that age, I still loved it for myself. It has a lot of lessons and advice that we can all use reminders of, and other insights that reframed certain situations and reactions to them. I highly recommend this charming and accessibly wise book